Employability Skills: Interests and Skills

People may have many jobs throughout their lifetime. Each time we search for a job, we will need to make many decisions about what we want to do, what we are able to do, what kind of education or training we will need for our new job, where we want to work, what kind of work and benefits we are looking for, and what kind of work is available.

The majority of work available in the United States is in the service industry, the largest and fastest growing industry. It accounts for 3 out of every 5 new jobs.

The service industry includes business services (employment agencies, temp companies, and computer and data services); health services (hospitals and healthcare services); and social services (child daycare and welfare). In fact, the top three fastest growing occupations in the United States are all in the service industry. They are:

Computer engineers, specialists, and administrators

Personal and home care aides

Medical assistants

After the service industry, other popular industries include the following:

In order to find a job and do well in that job, it is important to have job skills. Skills are talents or abilities that people have. There are many different kinds of skills (and people can have many different skills), but they can be broken down into three major categories:

Informational or data skills - such as being good at math or writing, knowing another language, or being a good organizer

Interpersonal skills - such as knowing how to manage other people or being able to solve problems among coworkers

Mechanical skills - such as being good at fixing cars or understanding how to work with machines.

The worksheets on the following pages can help you figure out your interests and abilities (or skills).